"I am Dave Porter, and this is Roger Morr. Buster Beggs is our friend, and so are Phil Lawrence and Ben Basswood. They ran away and it was foolish for them to do it. Now we want to find them and get them to come back here."
"It was foolish for 'em to run away--I said thet all along," murmured the old expressman.
"Then you know where they are?" put in Roger quickly.
"No, I don't."
"But you took their baggage away, didn't you?" questioned Dave, for he could see that the old man was holding something back.
"I allow as how I moved some things for 'em, yes," was the cautious reply.
"When they ran away?" pursued Dave.
The old expressman nodded.
"Who got those bags from Oak Hall?" asked Roger.
"Thet's a secret," and now the old man really chuckled, as if he thought it was a good joke.
"You did!" declared Dave, bound to get at the truth.
"No, I didn't. Buster did--carried 'em down on his back, one at a time, in the middle o' the night, an' nobuddy knew it! Say, they could walk off with yer hull school if they wanted to!" And the old expressman chuckled again.
"You were waiting for him?" continued Dave.
"Might be as I was."
"And you took the baggage to the depot?"
"Maybe I did."
"And had them checked on railroad tickets?"
"No, Buster went one way, and the bags went tudder--leas'wise so I was given to understand. Maybe he done it to put me off the track," continued Isaac Dowling.
"But where did the bags go to?" demanded Dave. "Come, out with it, Mr. Dowling. I give you my word that I am acting for Buster's good. I wouldn't get him into trouble for the world. He is my chum, and so are those other boys my friends."
"Well, you look honest, boy, so I'll tell ye. The baggage was sent by express to a place called Camptown Falls, in Maine."
"Camptown Falls!" cried Roger. Then he looked at Dave, who nodded, to show that he understood.
"Did Buster say he was going elsewhere?" queried Dave.
"He didn't say so, exactly. But he mentioned Boston, an' I thought he was goin' there."
"He left on the train?"
"No, he didn't! He went off in the darkness, an' that's the last I see o' him," concluded Isaac Dowling, as a hail came for him to come into the house.
"Camptown Falls," said Dave, when he and Roger were alone. "Can they have gone to that out-of-the-way spot?"
"It would be the place Buster would pick out, Dave. He has often spoken of going camping up there."
"He must have mentioned Boston just to throw old Dowling off the track."
"More than likely. And to think he took those bags away while we slept!"
"I wonder where Phil and Ben were at the time?"
"I don't know. Maybe they were at that camp."
Much excited over what they had learned, Dave and the senator's son returned to Oak Hall. They had expected to interview Doctor Clay and were chagrined to learn that he had gone to New York on important business and would not return for two days. Mr. Dale had been left in charge of the school.
"Roger, do you know what I think of doing?" said our hero. "I've a good notion to get permission to leave the Hall and go after Phil and the others. I think I can get them to come back."
"Want me to go along?"
"That will hardly be necessary. Besides, I'd like somebody to stay here and watch Nat Poole, if he comes back. Do you know, I've a notion that Nat knows more about this affair than he would like to tell."
"He certainly acts that way."
"I am going to see Mr. Dale."
Our hero had a long talk with the head assistant, and the upshot of this was that he got permission to go to Maine, to look for the runaways. He was to be gone no longer than was absolutely necessary.
It did not take our hero long to prepare for the trip. He packed a few things in a suit-case and then he was ready. He consulted a map and some timetables, and found he could leave Oakdale on the first train in the morning, and by making two changes, reach Camptown Falls about two o'clock in the afternoon. Nobody but Roger and Mr. Dale knew that he was going away.
"Got money enough, have you, Dave?" questioned the senator's son.
"Yes, Roger."
"It's a wild kind of a spot, so Buster told me."
"I am not afraid of that--if only I can locate the boys," answered our hero.
"How are you going to look for them?"
"I don't know yet--I'll find out after I get there."
It must be confessed that Dave slept but little that night. His mind was filled with what was before him. He felt that he had quite a mission to perform, first in locating the runaways and then in persuading them to return to Oak Hall to face the music.
He had an early breakfast, Roger eating with him, and then the buggy, driven by Horsehair, was brought around and he got in, and a minute later he was off, the senator's son waving him an adieu from the porch of the school.
Dave found the first train he rode on but half filled with passengers, and he had a double seat to himself. He changed at the Junction, and about noon reached Lumberport, where he was to take the train on the little side-line for Camptown Falls. At Lumberport he got dinner, at a hotel frequented by lumbermen. He sat at a long table with half a dozen men and listened to their talk with interest when he heard Camptown Falls mentioned.
"Yes, they tell me there is great danger of the dam giving way just above Camptown Falls," one of the men said. "Doxey reported it hasn't been safe for a week."
"Say, if that dam gave way it would do a lot of damage below the Falls," said another.
"It certainly would," replied a tall lumberman. "It would wipe out some of those camps on Moosetail Island. I rather guess the water would cover the whole island."
"Somebody ought to warn the campers," said another.
"Oh, I guess they know it already," was the answer.
Dave arose from the table feeling very uneasy. He remembered the name, Moosetail Island, now. Buster had once mentioned it, stating he had camped there and would like to go again. Were the runaways there now, and in danger of the dam, should it break?
CHAPTER XXIII
AT THE CAMP
At last the train came that was to take our hero to the railroad station of Camptown Falls. It was merely a flag station, but the conductor said he would stop there for any passenger who might wish to get off. The railroad was a single-track affair, running through the woods and across the country stretches, and the train consisted of one passenger car and several freights.
Dave looked at the passengers and counted them. There were just an even dozen, and of these, ten were men, farmers and those in the lumber business. One, a bright young fellow, sat near our hero, and Dave resolved to ask him if he knew anything about Camptown Falls and the summer camps in that vicinity.
"Yes, I know all about the Falls,"